Having been in business for a while, I have observed that resilience is one of the most important traits to have. By ‘resilience’ I mean the ability to recover from setbacks, adapt well to change, and keep going in the face of adversity.
The generic definition of resilience is: “the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity” and “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.”. I particularly like those two almost opposing words: elasticity and toughness. Those attributes must go hand-in-hand for resilience to exist: if you are only ‘elastic’ with no toughness, you will be taken for granted and pulled in all directions. If you are only ‘tough’ without any flexibility, you won’t be able to go with the flow when required or stretch to accommodate a new situation.
So what does the future look like for business owners? Do the upcoming generations have the resilience to be successful business owners?
Mark McCrindle (from McCrindle Research) says that “Generation X (those born 1963-1980) are reacting against the baby boomers' overindulgent and free-spirited parenting style…they are also swinging back to…an emphasis on notions such as work ethic, etiquette, resilience, fortitude and taking responsibility for oneself. All the research we've done shows Gen Y (those born 1981-1994) lacks resilience and a work ethic. Generation Z (those born 1995-2009) is different." His research is showing a stronger emphasis on social justice and a generation of highly educated, technologically savvy, innovative thinkers, amongst Generation Z.
So according to this research, there is likely to be a generation amongst us (Generation Y) who are highly unsuited to running a business. Before all the Gen Y’s get up in arms, this is of course a generalisation! But it does show us that the environment in which you’ve been raised, and your experiences, have a significant bearing on your level of resilience. Perhaps resilience can be learned later in life and the benefits of that new learning can be reaped? But for those of us raising the next generation of entrepreneurs, if we instil a strong work ethic and create opportunities to learn that ‘everyone is not a winner’, we will create a strong capacity for resilience.
